www.washingtontimes.com Topics: Phil Mendelsonhttps://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/phil-mendelson/?utm_medium=RSS2017-06-12T16:50:05-04:00Muriel Bowser attempts to restore $55 million in funding to expand D.C. Streetcar's route2017-06-12T16:50:05-04:00Ryan M. McDermotthttps://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jun/12/muriel-bowser-attempts-to-restore-55-million-in-fu/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS<p>Officials from D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser's administration made a last-ditch effort Monday to restore $55 million in funding to expand the D.C. Streetcar's route. But city lawmakers are unlikely to delay a vote on the nearly $14 billion budget for a transportation project plagued by problems.</p> <p>City Administrator Rashad Young ...Phil Mendelson blasts Muriel Bowser over Anacostia property plans2017-04-13T15:16:07-04:00Ryan M. McDermotthttps://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/apr/13/phil-mendelson-blasts-muriel-bowser-over-anacostia/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS<p>The power struggle over several blighted properties in Anacostia boiled over this week with the chairman of the D.C. Council accusing Mayor Muriel Bowser of illegally awarding contracts to redevelop the sites.</p> <p>"The city's announcement that it has awarded $1.6 million and six properties in Historic Anacostia to two inexperienced ...D.C. family leave bill would impact business, opponents say2017-02-20T17:36:05-05:00Ryan M. McDermotthttps://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/feb/20/dc-family-leave-bill-would-impact-business-opponen/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS<p>Proponents of the District's new paid family leave law are pushing back against lawmakers who want to change how it is funded in order to relieve the burden on local businesses.</p> <p>The law, which provides up to eight weeks of family or medical leave to private-sector workers in the city, ...Muriel Bowser, D.C. mayor, worried about paid family leave bill's fairness to city2016-11-29T16:57:07-05:00Ryan M. McDermotthttps://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/nov/29/muriel-bowser-dc-mayor-worried-about-paid-family-l/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS<p>D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser offered little support Tuesday for a revised paid family leave bill, citing employment statistics showing the program would mostly benefit people who work in the city but live in Maryland and Virginia.</p> <p>Through a spokesman, the Democratic mayor said she had not seen the legislation but ...Phil Mendelson's D.C. paid leave bill proposes 1% payroll tax2016-10-31T21:56:12-04:00Ryan M. McDermotthttps://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/oct/31/phil-mendelsons-dc-paid-leave-bill-proposes-1-payr/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS<p>A bill that would grant workers in the District paid time off to care for a new child or to tend to an extended illness could still come up for a vote in the D.C. Council this year, but Mayor Muriel Bowser says the money the legislation would cost could ...D.C. 12-week paid family leave, employee scheduling bills make some council members uneasy2016-07-11T16:18:08-04:00Ryan M. McDermotthttps://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jul/11/dc-12-week-paid-family-leave-employee-scheduling-b/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS<p>D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson said Monday that some lawmakers are uneasy about the details of legislation that would give city workers 12 weeks of paid family leave and require local businesses to set their employees' schedules three weeks in advance, explaining why both bills have been removed from the ...D.C. Council approves plan to close homeless shelter at D.C. General Hospital, build 7 smaller ones2016-05-31T12:12:13-04:00Ryan M. McDermotthttps://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/may/31/dc-council-approves-plan-to-close-homeless-shelter/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS<p>The D.C. Council has given final approval to an ambitious plan that calls for closing the dilapidated homeless shelter at the former D.C. General Hospital and replacing it with seven smaller facilities owned by the District.</p> <p>In a unanimous vote Tuesday, the lawmakers passed a proposal presented earlier this month ...D.C. Council moves to revise Mayor Muriel Bowser's homeless proposal2016-05-17T22:03:08-04:00Ryan M. McDermotthttps://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/may/17/dc-council-moves-to-revise-mayor-muriel-bowsers-ho/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS<p>The D.C. Council on Tuesday gave preliminary approval to an overhaul of Mayor Muriel Bowser's plan to close the dilapidated homeless shelter at the former D.C. General Hospital and build seven smaller facilities across the city to house its residents.</p> <p>Under the revised plan, which was largely reworked by council ...Muriel Bowser pushes $15 minimum wage for Washington, D.C.2016-04-11T22:19:07-04:00Ryan M. McDermotthttps://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/apr/11/muriel-bowser-pushes-15-minimum-wage-for-washingto/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS<p>D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is set to introduce legislation that would raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour despite cries that it would unduly burden city businesses and make the District less attractive to companies seeking to set up shop.</p> <p>The Democratic mayor announced her proposal amid a national ...Phil Mendelson, chair of D.C. Council, vows transparency by requiring campaign disclosures2015-12-23T19:09:15-05:00Ryan M. McDermotthttps://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/dec/23/phil-mendelson-chair-of-dc-council-vows-transparen/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS<p>The chairman of the D.C. Council said Wednesday that he intends to make the District's deals with vendors and land developers more transparent by requiring them to disclose campaign donations to city officials.</p> <p>"The big issue for me is improving the council's oversight function," Chairman Phil Mendelson, at-large Democrat, told ...DEBORAH SIMMONS: D.C. officials blasted at Baptist church forum2015-08-20T20:13:04-04:00Deborah Simmonshttps://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/aug/20/deborah-simmons-dc-officials-blasted-at-baptist-ch/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS<p><strong>ANALYSIS/OPINION:</strong></p> <p>'The devil is on the loose, and we need to lock it back up."</p> <p>Those words fittingly summed up the cultural earthquake that is rocking the nation's capital, where Official D.C. can't seem to acknowledge the city's problem &mdash; let alone get a handle on it.</p> <p>Those remarks by ...D.C. Council votes to cut taxes2015-06-30T20:18:06-04:00Andrea Noblehttps://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jun/30/dc-council-votes-to-cut-taxes/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS<p>The D.C. Council voted Tuesday to cut income and business taxes in September rather than putting off the reductions until early next year.</p> <p>Mayor Muriel Bowser and a contingent of newly elected council members sought to hold off on the tax cuts until February, arguing that more discussion of the ...D.C. budget passes council; court ruling could let city bypass Congress approval2015-05-27T19:48:05-04:00Andrea Noblehttps://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/may/27/dc-budget-passes-council-court-ruling-could-let-ci/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS<p>The D.C. Council approved Wednesday a nearly $13 billion budget after ironing out disagreements between proposals from the mayor and the council chairman &mdash; scrapping tax increases while keeping a promise to invest more than $100 million into affordable housing initiatives.</p> <p>At the same time the 13-member council met to ...Phil Mendelson's budget nixes tax hikes, summer-jobs expansion2015-05-26T16:17:00-04:00Andrea Noblehttps://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/may/26/phil-mendelson-budget-nixes-tax-hikes-summer-jobs/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS<p><span>D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson said his budget plan gives Mayor Muriel Bowser "99 percent of what she's requested" &mdash; all while fully funding plans to expand homeless services and eliminating proposed tax hikes.</span></p> <p>The plan does not, however, fund a permanent expansion of the city's summer jobs program to ...D.C. Council picks at Mayor Muriel Bowser's budget, questions spending cuts and tax hikes2015-04-13T16:27:17-04:00Andrea Noblehttps://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/apr/13/dc-council-picks-at-mayor-muriel-bowsers-budget-qu/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS<p>D.C. Council members wasted no time Monday in taking digs at portions of Mayor Muriel Bowser's $12.9 billion budget proposal, including her plan to raise some taxes and to cut funding from the University of the District of Columbia.</p> <p>D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson opened Monday's oversight hearing, which kicked ...D.C. Council sets up marijuana bill hearings2015-01-18T22:07:11-05:00Andrea Noblehttps://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jan/18/dc-council-sets-up-marijuana-bill-hearings/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS<p>The D.C. Council is pursuing a regulatory scheme for the sale and taxation of marijuana, scheduling hearings on proposed legislation that flies in the face of congressional attempts to prevent the District from loosening its drug laws.</p> <p>City officials say council committees expect to begin hearings on the bill in ...D.C. Council to prioritize statehood, marijuana law2015-01-04T21:36:11-05:00Andrea Noblehttps://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jan/4/dc-council-to-prioritize-statehood-marijuana-law/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS<p>Promises to push for D.C. statehood and to protect voters' decision to legalize marijuana were a common refrain among the city's newly elected leaders.</p> <p>In speeches at their swearing in ceremony on Friday, several of the newest elected leaders as well as those returning to office told city residents they'd ...EDITORIAL: Muriel Bowser, new D.C. mayor, arrives with tight spending challenge2014-12-31T18:18:09-05:00THE WASHINGTON TIMEShttps://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/31/editorial-muriel-bowser-new-dc-mayor-arrives-with-/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS<p>Out with the old, in with the new. It's an adage that will certainly apply to the District of Columbia come Friday, when Vincent C. Gray exits left and Muriel Bowser steps up to be inaugurated as Her Honor the mayor.</p> <p>Theirs was a hard-fought campaign for the Democratic nomination, ...D.C. Jail health care contract raises activists' ire2014-12-16T21:02:09-05:00Andrea Noblehttps://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/16/dc-jail-health-care-contract-raises-activists-ire/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS<p>The ACLU of the Nation's Capital and inmate advocates are encouraging the D.C. Council to reject a contract that would place a for-profit corporation they say has a history of providing poor care in charge of health care at the D.C. Jail.</p> <p>The District's Office of Contracting and Procurement recommends ... D.C. Council to vote on Gray's budget veto2014-07-11T15:38:08-04:00Andrea Noblehttps://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jul/11/mayor-gray-vetoes-districts-fiscal-2015-budget/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS<p>The D.C. Council is expected to vote Monday on whether to override Mayor Vincent C. Gray's veto of the city's fiscal 2015 budget.</p> <p>Mr. Gray on Friday vetoed the $10.8 billion spending plan adopted by the council this month, disagreeing with elements that taxed fitness centers, didn't do enough to ...